Woodrow Wilson High School senior Chase DeJong has emerged from three days days of Major League Baseball drafts as an 81st pick to the Toronto Blue Jays, which comes after already being recruited by USC.
He’s not the first DeJong to do so. In 2007, his cousin Jordan DeJong played for the Blue Jays briefly, according to an article on Gazettes.com.
A 6-foot-4 righthanded pitcher with a fastball in the 87-92 mph range, according to MLB.com, DeJong was set to play as a Trojan in the fall, something high school coach, Andy Hall, lauded him for on the Long Beach Wilson Baseball web site
“I'm very excited and happy for Chase and the entire DeJong and Bruin baseball family,” Coach Hall stated on the web site. “His commitment to the Trojan baseball program will make it fun and easy for all of Chase's fans to continue to watch him play for one of the most storied baseball programs in all of college baseball.”
Chase was planning to major in business with an emphasis in management in either sports or restauranteuring, according to the site.
DeJong, who led the Bruins to the CIF Division 1 baseball semi finals in 2011 two years after transfering to Wilson High from the much smaller in Cerritos, has credited the power of prayer for his prowess on the field in a with Patch.
Some of his other accomplishments include a 2008 World Championship title with the Long Beach PONY team, a 2010 American Legion State championship with Wilson High’s Bruins and a gold medal in 2011 at the Pan American Championships in Cartagena, Columbiawith with the 18U National Team, according to an article on Gazettes.com.
Corrects earlier version with editor error in the secondary headline.
